Last Call for Love-a standalone

By Rebekah Crane-I read The Upside of Falling and gave it 3*

Rating: 3/5 ⭐⭐⭐

Publication 8/6/24 Read 6/15/24

Format: E-book, 290 pgs.

Thanks to NetGalley and Skyscape for this ARC 💜! I voluntarily give an honest review and all opinions expressed are my own.

✔️ Adult Fic
✔️ coming of age- mid 20's
✔️ family drama/rivals
✔️ H illness
✔️insta-love/H falls first
✔️forbidden romance
✔️small town

Summary-An American from Chicago goes to Ireland (Inishglass) when Maeve Kaminski (24) inherits her deceased father Liam Doherty's pub called the Moorings. She never knew him, but being in debt motivates her to go to Ireland. Briggs Murphy (28), the owner of the Thatch-a rival pub across town-has just found out he has the same heart condition that killed his father ten years ago. He doesn't believe in love and sleeps around with tourists-until Maeve. He's taken with her but there's a family legacy of hating each other. Will they believe the legend or will they follow their hearts?

My Thoughts-I like inst-love done right and this wasn't it. Briggs is introduced as a player, and he and his friend/roommate Hugh had crass things to say about women. He and Maeve fall quickly and most of the story is focused on her being well organized and the rivalry-not the romance.

Overall this was okay. liked the Shakespearean twist of opposing families and forbidden love. Full disclosure, I just read Love At First Book by Jenn McKinlay and it had a similar plot with an American going to Ireland and falling in love. I think if I read this before I might have enjoyed it more.

When Maeve flies to Ireland on an impromptu trip after receiving a letter from her late father, she doesn’t expect her life to change. The last thing she expected was to now be the owner of a pub, a pub that has a very strong rivalry with another on the small island. Not to mention, the owner of the other pub is incredibly gorgeous, and kind.
This book was good. It was slow in places and ran as fast as possible in others, but it was still enjoyable. I loved reading about the characters and the small details about the island and bars. I just had a lot of fun, I don’t know.
Thank you to NetGalley and Skyscrape for an eARC of this book.

This was an impeccable story that not only had me laughing but made me fall in love with the characters and setting.

Thanks so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this in exchange for an honest review!

The premise of this one sounded like a lot of fun and the cover is super cute.

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I felt like the writing style was hard to read and connect with. I also don't think the relationship between the characters was very believable for me. I ended up not finishing this one.

I hope others love this one!

The premise of the book is good but I wish the writing had been a little more immersive but I loved the setting!

For me the romance was a little bit insta-love and it’s definitely a trope I don’t like so the romance between Maeve and Briggs didn’t captivate me.

I also thought everything was handled more dramatically than it should’ve been and this made me disconnect even more from the book.

Anyway, thank you NetGalley for the arc!

I loved this book. It was so sweet and fast paced and everything I didn’t know I wanted. It reminded me of PS. I Love You just a tiny bit. Mostly the Ireland and husband part, but the similarities stop there.

I loved the competition and banter between the bars and I loved how Maeve quickly settled in to take care of business while developing such a fun relationship with Briggs. It felt effortless and comfortable.

An emotional read in places, but I really think this one will do well once it hits the shelves. It’s such a timeless enemies to lovers romance read.

Thanks so much NetGalley and Skyscape for the eARC.

Thank you to NetGalley for an e-arc to read, rate, and review.

This was a cute rivals to lovers romance. I felt the backstory was underdeveloped, so I wasn't as attached to the couple as I would liked.
There was an underlying storyline about grief that bumped up the rating for me.

Last Call for Love by Rebekah Crane was a cute rom-com, quick read and overall just fun. It takes Maeve Kaminski, born and raise in the USA by her mom and step father. She is down and out in debt from her last boyfriend and ends up inheriting a pub in Ireland from her estranged father whom she had never met and knew nothing about. The catch, she has to stay in Ireland and work at the pub until she manages to complete 3 very specific tasks noted by her father.

She also find outs that the Doherty's (her biological fathers side) and the Murphy's (the other pub in town), have a long standing feud that means bad boy Briggs Murphy is off limits. However, that is easier said then done when Maeve can't stop thinking about him. So ensues the love - hate relationship that leads to many a fight between the two.

This was a cute story, however I do not feel it should have been classed as a YA story but should be a rom-com as there is nothing teen about this story. The love aspects were not detailed, however the story line itself did not have any of the YA aspects one would expect.

I liked this book, giving it a 5-star rating. The story line was predictable, however that is true of every rom-com I have ever read. To me, the story line was different with the inheritance from dad and a few other twists that come along the way.

I want to think NetGalley and Skyscape for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was a movie reel in my head! I loved this so much 4.5⭐️
We have a beautiful enemies to lovers romance set in the magical location of Ireland. Throw in some self discovery and practical jokes and you’re onto a winner.
The online reviews at the start of the chapters were so cute and I wish there were more.
Lastly thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

I wish that this story had a little more development in regards to the Chicago storyline, but I did enjoy the Ireland side of things. I have enjoyed other books by Crane, but this one was just an ok read for me. The writing just didn't grab me in the same was as previous reads. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a great book. I connected with the characters. I felt engrossed with the plot. I would read another book by this author.

3.5⭐️ rounded up.
Thank you Net Gallery for this book, From the description this story sounded like a modern day Romeo & Juliet and it did not disappoint, I loved Briggs and Maeve’s characters and this island setting. It was a funny cute romance and just made me want to pack a bag and go to the island myself. Highly recommend to anyone looking for a good romance this summer.

3.25⭐️



Maeve es representante de ventas, se enamoró de un tipo que resultó ser un estafador, necesita dinero para pagar las deudas que le dejo la rata traidora. Entonces, cuando se entera que su donador de esperma murió y le dejó algo, con mucha resistencia acepto ir a cobrar la herencia a Irlanda.

Briggs es el dueño de un pub, es un mujeriego y se acuesta con sus clientas para evadir su dolor y evitar volver a caer en el alcohol porque cree que le pasará lo mismo que a su papá: que enfermerá y morirá. No quiere desarrollar sentimientos y que esa persona después sufra por su muerte.


Los Doherty y los Murphy era familias enemigas y se hizo famosa su rivalidad, lo cual atrae al turismo, sin embargo, en la actualidad ya no se odian, pero tienen que fingir y hacerse travesuras para que la gente siga yendo.


Lo único que no me gustó fue como se manejo el tema del donador de esperma. No entiendo como Maeve llegó a quererlo si nunca lo conoció y aunque él tipo se arrepintió de decir que no quería estar en su vida, nunca hizo algo por acercarse.



Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

RATING 1.5 ⭐️ (rounded up)

While I am not only an avid lover of romance as whole, but romance set in Ireland/the UK, this novel fell flat for me and for the time-being I have decided to DNF. I do intend to attempt to read it again closer to pub date, but am not sure how my views on the book/writing will encourage me to do so by then.

I actually love the idea behind the plot. It felt somewhat unique and despite how rare it is for someone to be left with years worth of debt from a thieving boyfriend, it was plausible. (Tinder Swindler, anyone?) I really wanted to see how Maeve and Briggs romance played out as there were so many different aspects of the story that could threaten to keep them apart, and am disappointed I didn't make it to their HEA.

What made it the most difficult to continue reading was the writing itself. It felt like a form of whiplash in that the style from one page to the next strongly differed. One moment there were beautiful descriptions and talking that really grabbed my attention, and the next it felt like a first draft of writing and any and all depth was lost.

==

Thank you Net Galley and Rebekah Crane for the ARC. All opinions are my own and honest.

Thank you to net galley for this book! this is more a 3.5 but I rounded up rather then round down. I really enjoyed the central relationship and the aspects of this book that take place in Ireland. I loved those characters and would gladly read books about them as well. However I found the Chicago aspects of this book (her parents, her best friend, her best friends gf who bullied them in high school? Her scammer ex) super under developed. They caused conflict and we were supposed to care about them but we did not spend enough time or characterization on them for it to hit.

Overall a charming romance with a nice underlying storyline about grief.

SOFT DNF’d at 100 pages, nothing against the book - just decided to move on for now. (ps. it’s been about a week or two since this review, and I’m excited to pick it back up!)

It was cute, definitely was aiming to be a 3 ⭐️ read because the plot itself was cute and interesting but nothing extravagant.

Characters were likeable and bickering was valid and cute. Loved the side characters.

Thank you for the ARC!

I was really excited going into this book but it was just lacking for me. There was wayy too much miscommunication for me to actually enjoy what I was reading.

3 stars!

Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc!

I’m going to be honest, I went into this book with some high expectations for a cutesy little irish romance book, which this definitely still is but there were definitely things that had me a bit… underwhelmed.

There was just so much miscommunication in the book that it became annoying. The book would have been a lot shorter if all the characters actually spoke and said what they had to.

The first half of the book and the second felt like two separate books to me in ways that i can’t really explain.

The main characters relationship didn’t feel genuine and i just found it really hard to root for them as a couple. I was more interested in the pubs, the characters friends and the plot about her dad. Like if they ended up being just friends I would not have been upset in the slightest.

[SPOILERS]
•
•
•
Her ex showing up to apologise & explain why he did what he did in regard to the debt and offering to pay her back was just so unrealistic that it was laughable, it was just so oddly convenient for the plot in the sense of just wrapping up that story like last minute.

Rivals to lovers without any chemistry

Maeve never knew her biological father, but he left her a pub in Ireland with a cool centuries old family feud with a rival pub. Briggs is a playboy with a heart condition who happens to own the rival pub.

Adorable characters with a lackluster rivalry, a silly premise, and some pretty uninspired love scenes.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Note to marketing...YA? Without a single teenager in the book.

What a sweet read that had me turning pages and rooting for our main characters to give a chance. Maeve receives an unexpected inheritance that leads her across the pond to Ireland. She walks into feuding that sweeps her up and lands her squarely on the path of Briggs. The banter, the chemistry, the slow burn, will have readers turning pages until the very end. Love it! Great little summer read to escape life, smile, and fall in love.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.